The five teenagers representing Bermuda in the World School Debating Championships (WSDC) in Seoul, South Korea, are holding their ground against tough competition.

Team Bermuda arrived on the Asian rim last Monday, before the tournament kicked-off two days later and defeated Mongolia by 3-1 during the first round.

More than 50 countries, represented by teams of five per nation, have converged there for the 12-day tournament, conducted in English.

The pupils are from the Bermuda Debate Society (BDS) — the Island’s umbrella organisation.

Adam Kiki-Charles (captain), 18, Blake Sonnenfeld, 15, Sasha Slayton, 16, reserve member, Jacari Brimmer-Landy, 15, all of Saltus Grammar School and Michelle Kelly, 16, of Mount Saint Agnes Academy and Aliyyah Ahad, 16, of Bermuda High School for Girls, make up the team.

Arguably the most prestigious event in high school parliamentary debating, the WSDC, since 1988, has been hosted in a different country each year by a national debating body.

Bermuda hosted the event in 1997 and other avenues have included Sydney, London, Johannesburg and Singapore.

Jennifer Haworth, President of BDS and Trevor Leitch, its treasurer and main coach, both past debaters themselves, are accompanying the team, which will also visit the infamous demilitarised zone that separates South Korea from North Korea.

Bermuda’s debators have beaten Mongolia, Bangladesh, and Hungary but lost to Singapore, Slovenia and South Africa.

The topics for debate have ranged from US bases in Asia to Holocaust denial and drug legalisation.